Iran has halted stoning as a form of capital punishment for women, a senior judiciary official in Iran has been quoted as saying.

The head of the judiciary is reported to have instructed judges not to implement the sentence, which is in line with a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Human rights organisations have strongly condemned the custom.

Two women were stoned to death last year

In practice, although the stoning of adulteresses remains on the statute books, it has become extremely rare.

There were two cases in the first half of 2001, but they were the first for many years and there have not been any reported since.

Reformists, in particular, are against the practice in principle.

They are also keenly aware of the impact it has on Iran's image abroad.

Last year's stonings were practically the only news about Iran carried by some Western newspapers.

Women members of the Iranian parliament have been actively campaigning to have the practice removed from the law books, arguing that it is not a clear-cut Koranic prescription.

Crackdown fears

One of the campaign leaders, MP Jamileh Kadivar, is quoted in a Tehran newspaper as saying that the head of the judiciary has circulated an instruction to judges not to resort to the stoning penalty.

A senior judiciary official also confirmed that the practice had been suspended since some time ago.

Women's rights campaigners clearly will not be satisfied until it is actually taken off the statute books.

The impression was that last year's sudden revival of stonings was part of a right-wing crackdown which could happen again.

The issue has been frequently raised by Iran's western interlocutors, most recently the European Union, which has opened talks with Tehran on human rights matters as part of a broader dialogue aimed at improving relations.